Arsenal 1 Man Utd 0 Arsenal are champions. Not one for the purists as the old cliche goes, but a fairly exciting game. Both teams beat each other up for most of the game. Arsenal finally broke though in the 2nd half on a nice run from Ljundberg. His shot was saved, but Wiltord was there for the follow up. Arsenal win it at Old Traford.
Doh! I was just going to post this. Congrats to HayesStreet and any other Gooners in these parts. They had a hell of a year.
Hey thanks! No place better to win the title than at Old Trafford! ManU was going 150 mph in the first half. Only bad part seemed to be that Viera was blowing kisses goodbye to the faithful... I was curious why both Bergkamp and Ruud Van Nistelroy were on the bench to start the game. I mean Kanu and Forlan? I'm sure ManU will be back strong next year, but with the new stadium coming soon, I think Highbury is gonna be rocking for years to come! Now if we can just make some headway in the damn Champions League.
I wonder if Arsenal will still sell Wiltord after he scored the goal that won the league at Old Trafford. Is Van Bommel still their target as a replacement for Viera?
Did Arsenal go undefeated on the road this season? If so....UNBELIEVABLE...especially at old Trafford.. DaDakota
I have actually been wondering this... With Arsenal getting a new bigger stadium. thus a larger national footprint, does that mean that Man U will have its hands full attemptimg to stay in place as englands #1 team. I mean if Arsenal buys the best talent like man U does, and then goes out and starts whoopin on serie A, la Liga and the Bundisliga, will the people of england have a change of heart?? will Nike offer them a 400 million dollar merchandise deal? will they become the biggest sports team in the world?? also is it possible for the name to happen in Baseball in America?
No - will never happen. Even when United sucked they were the most popular team. The year they spent in the 2nd highest division they still drew more than all the top teams on average for their home games.
So when you guys watch soccer, do you actually sit there and watch the entire 90 minutes or do you go do something more exciting like cut the grass and then come back for the final 5-10 minutes?
BGM, Soccer is very exciting if you know what to look for. It is not a game of scoring so much as a game of chances to score. The game is beautiful when played at a high level....most of us Americans would not know that because our national team has not been so good..... BUT !!!!! They are pretty good this year and the World cup starts in less then a month. U-S-A baby !!! DaDakota
Are you kidding? When you watch a game you get to see all your favorite soccer stars, like Ariaga, Ariaga II, Bariaga, Aruglia, and Pizzoza!
Suckor will continue to suck until ties are completely eliminated (overtime, baby) and either the goal size is drastically increased or the goalie is removed while making the goal a bit smaller.
Uh, how about some modern history? ManU hasn't been in the second division in a long time. And avg home game attendance is a terrible measurement of possible popularity since Old Trafford holds 60,000 plus, while Arsenal, arguably the club with the second largest following has Highbury, which seats under 38,000. And believe me, Arsenal could fill a lot more seats every game, hence the new larger stadium. And to answer a question above, it does look like Van Bommel is the player they will go after to replace Viera. It will suck to see him go although at times this year he was not as dominant as others. Overall I have faith in Arsene Wenger though, since his transfer record is nothing short of remarkable, and since many of the players he's let go crashed and burned shortly afterwards (Petit, Anelka etc) while he replaces them with less expensive players who develop into stars (Viera, Henry, Pires, Freddie Red Hair). Wiltord probably is gone as well. His pace is good but he does not want to play on the wing and has said he is leaving. BGM - football/soccer is really comparable to any other low scoring sport (Baseball before they threw anyone in to pitch in the majors, hockey). Many people don't like to watch 'defensive battles' in the NFL, or criticized the Rockets for low scoring, high defensive orienteed games (like in '94) as compared to the 135-133 games of the 80s, or 'pitchers matchups' in baseball. Usually those people come off as uninformed about the game, no?
It was just one example of United's popularity. It may be a terrible measurement, but you are not seriously questioning the popularity of Manchester United as the worlds most (not only Englands) popular club. This will not change just because Arsenal builds a bigger stadium. Also if United had a capacity of lets say 80000 I'm sure they will fill it up for every league game.
No I'm not questioning that ManU's the most popular club, but I am saying that in reference to the question of 'whether Arsenal will start to challenge ManU in popularity' that it is a possibility. ManU is undoubtably currently more popular. The stadium issue shows that Arsenal will DOUBLE ( ) their capacity and still sell out, which is a pretty good. And consider that while Arsenal has been famous for scores of 1-0 in the past (grinding out points), the Wenger regime has changed the way they play making the brand of ball a lot more exciting ala ManU. I can't speak historically about how long ManU has been so popular, but I would imagine its been fueled by their dominance in England, not in Europe (since they haven't been dominant in Europe), so there is no reason to believe Arsenal cannot follow suit.
